


Don't Go Alone

by Magentas_Nightmare



Category: The Walking Dead & Related Fandoms, The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Action, F/M, Friendship, Merle and Michonne, Rare Pairings, Slow Burn, The Governor - Freeform, The prison timeline, Understanding, ZA
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-15 15:07:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 19,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28940454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Magentas_Nightmare/pseuds/Magentas_Nightmare
Summary: Merle is determined to take out the Governor alone and bring an end to the threat from Woodbury but Michonne isn't standing for it and refuses to back down when Merle says she should go back to the prison. In time, they even find common ground and perhaps more...
Relationships: Merle Dixon & Michonne
Comments: 73
Kudos: 28





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I played this song over and over and over while writing this story.  
> It's the ultimate Merle and Michonne song IMO...sigh. Give it a listen:) 
> 
> Seafret - Out Of Nowhere
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vqz2LPLEvx8
> 
> Out of Nowhere (Lyrics)  
> You opened up the door,  
> I crashed into the wall,  
> Didn't touch them, breaks it all,  
> Never wanted something more.
> 
> I started looking back,  
> Life is like a racing track.  
> This moment then so fast,  
> let's make the moment last.
> 
> Time moved on been nothing change,  
> Different roads but we stayed the same.  
> Found the life that never fades,  
> You gave me hope on the darkest days.
> 
> Oh, you came out of nowhere,  
> There's nothing I can do, ooh  
> We've reached it, we got here,  
> Crossing roads until it showed.  
> Breaking all the rules to know,  
> Ah, you came out of nowhere.
> 
> Now I just can't turn away,  
> Feelings don't hesitate,  
> I'll be crushed under the weight.  
> If that's the price, I'll pay.
> 
> I'd offer all 'em all,  
> Love holds an open door,  
> inside the worlds on pause  
> What are you waiting for?!
> 
> Time moved on been nothing change,  
> Different roads but we stayed the same.  
> Found the life that never fades,  
> You gave me hope on the darkest days.
> 
> Oh, You came out of nowhere,  
> There's nothing I can do,  
> We've reached it we got here.  
> Crossing roads until it showed,  
> Breaking all the rules to know.  
> Oh, You came out of nowhere.  
> Oh, You came out of nowhere.

> **Don't Go Alone**
> 
> **Chapter One**
> 
> * * *

The road was long and his mind raced with conflicted thoughts. A battle had been brewing inside him for a long time now. Who did he want to be now? Did Daryl really need him anymore? Would it be better if he just went out in a blaze of glory for the group? Perhaps he was better off dead or gone, he didn't know anymore.

“What are you thinking?”

Michonne had stayed mostly silent next to him after he had untied her a few miles back. He didn't know what to do with her now.

“Nothing.”

“Liar,” she said in that dry, all-knowing tone that bugged him.

For some reason, Michonne knew him better than most people. He didn't like that she could read him so well; it reduced his power with her. When he managed to subdue her and get her into the car, she didn't even look scared and she never begged him once to let her go. She knew damn well that he was going to anyway. There was a quiet power in her. She was a woman who used few words but used them so effectively.

“Just pull the car around and we'll go back,” she said.

“I can't.”

“Yes, you can, and you should.”

“What do you care what I do?” he huffed.

She was weaseling her way into his mind again and he knew she'd work him like a puppet if he let her.

“Daryl needs you.”

“Don't be ridiculous. Nobody ever needed me in all my damn life,” he sighed.

“If you're thinking of taking the Governor out alone, it's you who's ridiculous.”

_How the hell did she know he was thinking of that?_

“Hush up,” he mumbled.

“I'm right on the money, aren't I?” she grinned.

“Pfft!”

There were a few more minutes of silence and then she surprised him again.

“I'll go with you.”

He knew it was a death mission and that once Michonne decided on something, she'd be hard to dissuade so he skidded the car to a stop the moment she brought it up.

“Nope.”

“Why not?”

“Just go back with them,” he said, reaching for her katana to return to her possession.

“You can't do this alone.”

“You ain't coming with me, it's too dangerous and I don't even know for sure what the hell I'm gonna do yet.”

“I know you. You're gonna try to take him out on your own and wind up dead, and I'm not going to let you.”

“Daryl will be just fine without me,” he argued. “This is the last good thing I can do. This ain't up to you.”

“If you're going, then I'm going too,” she stated.

“Get out of the car, Michonne.”

“Make me,” she answered calmly.

Merle growled and swung his door open to walk around the car and retrieve her. Why was she such a mind-reading pain in the ass?

Michonne locked the car door and just smiled up at him as he wrenched on the door handle like a petulant child.

“Open up, damn it!” he hollered. “You ain't comin' with me!”

“Get in the car, Merle,” she sighed.

Merle kicked the front tire at full force and almost broke all his toes in the process.

“Fuck! My fuckin' toes! FUCK!”

He got back in the car a minute later and just stared daggers at her.

“Merle?”

“What?” he snapped.

“You don't deserve to go out like this.”

"Says who?"

"Says me."

“You gonna argue with every damn thing I say?”

“As long as what you're saying is bullshit.”

“Nobody wants me at the prison and the governor wants me dead. I've worn out my welcome everywhere on this Earth, Michonne.”

“That's not true.”

He frowned then, certain that he'd heard her wrong.

“Bullshit.”

“You belong at the prison.”

“For Daryl's sake? I told you, he'll be OK without me. He's done better ever since we separated back in Atlanta.”

“I know Daryl can make it without you if he has to, that's not what I mean.”

“Then what the hell do you mean?” he huffed.

“Daryl told me about your childhood. I know what you both went through.”

“So?”

“So, maybe it's about time you had something good in this world."

He didn't respond, so she continued.

“I pay attention and I see all the little things you don't want people to notice. You insisted that we take Andrea back in when nobody else trusted her, you pushed Daryl to finally make a move with Carol, you watch over Judith for Beth to give her a break every afternoon, and you hunt for the group almost daily and never expect a thank you. You can pretend you're some unfeeling brute, but I see that it's a smokescreen.”

Merle fell silent and leaned his head on the steering wheel to think. He was so sure of what he was doing a minute ago and now he had no idea.

“Don't go alone,” she said softly. “I'll go with you.”

“I shouldn't have dragged you out here. I was never gonna hand you over. I don't know what the hell I was thinking,” he shrugged.

“I wasn't worried,” she nodded.

“What do we do now?” he sighed.

“We need a proper plan. I know a place where we can stop and think for a bit.”


	2. Chapter 2

> **Chapter Two**

* * *

Michonne insisted on driving and he gave up trying to fight her on anything. She wasn't the kind of woman who was easy to persuade when she had her mind made up but he respected that cause he was the same way.

She headed down a tree-lined narrow road to God knows where and he decided to just let it happen without asking where she was taking him. It was a relief in many ways to be stopped by someone, to be told to slow down and think for once. She was right, they needed a proper plan.

Eventually, a small long-forgotten building came into view with a little outhouse in the back and she came to a stop out front.

“I must trust you if I'm showing you my secret hiding place,” she grinned.

“You're full of surprises,” he commented as she located a key under an old broken plant pot in the yard.

“I found this place while traveling back and forth between the prison and Woodbury, got a little stash inside as long as nobody found it.”

He followed her inside and she lifted a trapdoor in the floorboards that had been covered by a rug. She hauled up a wooden crate with food, water, and half a bottle of brandy.

“What the hell?” he chuckled.

“Eat,” she said as she closed the curtains and sat down on a kitchen chair to sip some water.

Merle looked around at the one-room structure that appeared to be a hunting cabin once upon a time. The walls were that rustic wood paneling and there was a small wood stove and a sink. The only furniture was an 80s style floral couch and a La-z-boy chair along with a tiny kitchen table with two chairs. There was no bedroom, no bathroom, just a tiny living area with a kitchenette.

Merle looked in the box and found some crackers, still sealed in plastic.

“You sure you wanna share this with me?” he asked.

“Don't be silly. Eat.”

“Thanks.”

He ate Ritz crackers as she moved around the room tidying up, then she pulled down a folded map and handed it to him.

“There has to be somewhere we haven't looked for weaponry. If we're gonna do this, we need to be properly armed,” she said.

Merle set down the box of crackers and opened the map on the table before them. He squinted down at the lines and words to find something they may have missed. His eyes finally settled on the words Dundurn Military Camp Detachment.

“Why the hell didn't I think of this before?” he groaned.

“What is it?”

“I was sent to this bullshit military-type juvie when I was a kid. They had weapons there and with the outbreak, before the fall I bet it was shut down before anyone looted it.”

“Why were you sent there?”

“Shoplifting. My own dad turned me in, the fucker.”

“How old were you?”

“Twelve, I think. It was his damned fault I was stealing anyway but he didn't mention that to the cops when he turned me in.”

“Your dad made you shoplift?” she asked.

“He wasn't buying food and Daryl was hungry, I didn't really have a choice. He needed some stupid book for school too. I got busted with a book and some cans of soup and the cops couldn't put two and two together that we were being neglected. Stupid pigs.”

“How long did you have to stay there?”

“Three months. Had to wonder every damn day if Daryl would even still be kicking when I got back. Our father used to yell at him mostly, though. I'm the one he liked to beat.”

“Jesus...that's so sad.”

“It's all good.”

Merle didn't bother crying about the past. Crying hadn't helped him then and it wouldn't change it now.

“It's only about 20 minutes from here,” he said. “Wanna go for it?”

“Yes, but in the morning. We'll be losing light soon.”

“Do you wanna go back to the prison for the night?” he asked.

“No. Let's just stay put. I want to work out a plan for when we get to Woodbury and I think it's best of it's just us. Anyone finds out our plan at the prison and they will insist on coming with us, but a larger group won't be able to get close enough without being noticed.”

"You have a point there," he noted. "Good thinking."

She walked over to the couch, opened a small box of Goldfish crackers, and looked distant suddenly."

“You OK?” he asked.

“I hate these things.”

“Crackers?”

“These little ones that look like fish, they remind me of Andre...I can't afford to be thinking of him now,” she sighed.

"I'm sorry," he offered, not knowing what else to say.

“It is what it is.”

“I bet you were a great mother.”

“I did my best.”

He handed her the brandy and found that he had no idea what to say. Merle had never seen her sad like this, she was always so strong. She took the bottle from him and downed a long sip before handing it back to him to have some.

Merle sat next to her on the couch then and waited for the right words to come, but they didn't. Instead, he took the box of Goldfish crackers from her hands and replaced them with the Ritz crackers he'd been eating.

"Trade ya," he said.

She smiled a little then and leaned her head against his shoulder for just a moment.

“Thank you.”

/

When night fell, he took the La-z-boy and she took the couch. He watched her for a long time, wondering how the whole Woodbury thing would play out. He hoped they would both make it out alive, but knew it had to be done either way. He was startled when she spoke to him then, he thought she was already sleeping.

“Merle?”

“Yeah?”

“We're going to kill him, and then life is going to get better for everyone.”

“You think we can really do it?”

“I know we can, we just need to be smart about it. When it's done, we can build a new life at the prison.”

“What would that even look like I wonder,” he mused.

“Anything we want. What do you want?”

“I want Daryl to be OK. He could have something good with Carol.”

“What do you want for yourself?”

“I don't know.”

“You should think about it, cause we could be close to having a life that's more than just fighting and non-stop struggle.”

“I don't have a clue what I'd do with myself if I wasn't struggling, been struggling all my damn life.”

“There has to be something you want for yourself.”

He imagined himself then as a man with a woman by his side, and kids, and a little cabin with flowers in the front yard and chuckled under his breath.

“What?”

“I overshot it just then, I was picturing some kind of _Leave it to Beaver_ thing for a second. I guess I'd settle for a little peace with a roof over my head and enough to eat.”

“Maybe you could have the white picket fence and a family, you never know. There's a reason we're still here, Merle.”

“Do you want that stuff? Would you start a family again?”

“If it was safe enough, I think I would.”

“Really?”

“Nothing will ever replace Andre, but I'd love to be a mother again.”

“I hope that happens for you then. That's worth risking death for,” he nodded.

“We're gonna make it, have some faith.”

“Sounds like you got lots of plans left for this world. Maybe I'll make some too."

“You should, cause it's not over just yet...goodnight, Merle.”

“Goodnight, Michonne.”


	3. Chapter 3

> **Chapter Three**

* * *

Morning arrived with oppressive heat and he walked out back as she stayed sleeping to pull off his shirt and splash some water over his skin. The sun was blinding and he squinted around at the silent world for a moment before returning inside to put his prosthetic back on.

He sat with his elbow resting on his thigh as he fiddled with the straps of the device and Michonne opened her eyes with a long yawn.

“Hey,” he nodded. “I'll grab a shirt right away here, just messin' with this damn thing.”

“It's fine, don't worry about it.”

“If only it'd been my left hand I hacked off, I'm useless without my right hand.”

“That must be hard,” she frowned.

“It's all good.”

“You say that a lot.”

“Nothing else I can say, cryin' about things never did me any good.”

Merle pulled on a shirt, drank some water, and ate a handful of crackers and he was ready to go. They loaded her supplies into the car and set out on the road to Dundurn Military Camp within the hour. Merle drove this time and Michonne stayed silent most of the way. He figured she was strategizing, she was a warrior after all. Merle had always respected her mind and abilities. They had been at odds, in the beginning, he had even fought her physically when he first separated from Woodbury, but she had bested him in her own right. He respected her more than any man he could think of.

It wasn't long before the road was blocked and they had to stop to move multiple vehicles that hadn't been able to get through. Merle hot-wired a few to get them into neutral so they could be pushed and Michonne kept watch.

“Merle, little help!" she called out after a while.

A small group of walkers headed toward them from the ditch and he came to stand at her side, his blade at the ready and her katana drawn. They worked well in a fight, he knew how she would move and could easily keep clear of her long blade. They knew each other's capabilities and which walkers the other would go for first. In only a moment they were nearly done clearing the area when Merle was knocked off his feet and rolled down a steep embankment onto a steel culvert where the blade of his prosthetic broke, leaving him defenseless as he tried to retrieve his gun from the holster on his belt.

“I got it,” Michonne called, racing down to him to take on the last walker bearing down on him.

Merle looked up in time to see her blade come straight through the dead man's chest and sighed to himself. He didn't know how he'd fix his prosthetic but it was a priority job.

“Thanks. You saved my ass there,” he said as she reached down to help him up.

“Was nothing. You good?”

“Yeah, I'm a little busted but I'm OK.”

They got the roadway cleared and he felt good knowing she had his back, he definitely had hers. When it was just the two of them, it felt like he could really interact with her. In the group at the prison, it was always all of them against him, like he'd never live down the monster he'd been in Atlanta. He was so angry then, so in need of a fix, and just plain different. The things that came out of his mouth when he was backed into a corner were unforgivable, they were the words of his father, and he was right where he deserved to be with the group. He understood their hatred, even as he resented it. There seemed to be no coming back from who he'd been, and yet Michonne was by his side and he didn't really know why.

They stopped at a mechanic's garage in Dundurn and decided to see if they could fix his blade before moving along. Merle would need some bolts and nuts and some tools before he went on to the military detachment. They broke into the garage and pulled the car in through the garage doors to keep it safe.

“I'm gonna see what I can find for fixing this,” he said when they were all in the clear.

“I'm gonna see if there's anywhere to crash for the night, I've got a bit of a headache.”

“You OK?” he asked.

“Yeah, it's just the heat. I just need to get out of the sun for a while.”

“You rest,” he said. “Drink some water, you might be dehydrated.”

Merle located some things to fix his blade but he needed to pull off the sock he used to keep his wound covered for a while. It had healed badly and he hated to look at it, but if he didn't let it get some air it would get blistered and sore.

“Sorry, I gotta take this off just for a bit,” he explained.

“It doesn't bother me,” she assured him.

"Nice of you to say, but I know it's awful. I'll never have a woman look twice at me again lookin' like this," he sighed. 

“Nobody who loves you would care about that.”

“You think?"

“That's what love is, Merle.”

“Turning a blind eye to mutilation?” he smirked.

“Don't you ever stop kidding around?”

“It just seems like a fairytale to the likes of me," he sighed, "I never had love like that."

“Love is only seeing beauty in another person, overlooking their flaws and imperfections, just needing to be with them no matter what.”

“That would be nice," he shrugged. "Where does a guy go about finding something like that?"

“You've never felt like that?” she pressed.

“Doesn't matter.”

“It does matter.”

“Michonne...”

“What?”

“It doesn't matter what I feel for other people, everyone hates me. Haven't you noticed?”

“You really think that?”

“Just forget it.”

“I don't hate you.”

“Yeah, but you don't like me either.”

“Excuse me? I'm here, Merle. I'm ready to risk it all with you to take that bastard down and you don't think I even like you?” she exclaimed.

“Oh.”

“What am I gonna do with you, Merle?”

“Put up with me?” he grinned.

“I wouldn't be here if I didn't like you, get that through your head.”

He was surprised to hear her say such a thing. He didn't really think she hated him but hearing that she liked him was a surprise. He wanted to know why she liked him so he could keep doing it but didn't want to push it.

“I like you too, just in case you were wondering,” he said.

“We're an odd pair, but I think we can really do this. We can save a lot of people from that madman and make this world a little better in the process.”

“You're starting to make me believe we can pull this off,” he noted.

“We can, you just need to have some faith.”

/

There was a little office up a flight of metal stairs where they decided to spend the night and Merle wondered how much Daryl was freaking out. Night started to fall and long shadows crept across the floor as they chose a corner opposite from each other to make up a makeshift bed for themselves.

“My brother's gonna kick my ass for disappearing like this,” Merle noted as she created a place to sleep on the floor.

“He'll forgive you. We need to get this done and I think we are the best two people to do it. If we take down the Governor, the rest will fall. Martinez isn't going to stay and lead Woodbury, he'll just take off with a few of the men who look up to him, and that will be that.”

“You got a good read on the place while you were there. I agree with that assessment. Nobody wants to replace the Governor, I think they all just want freedom,”

“Exactly, so when we get in there and take him out quick, it'll be done. There will be a firefight, we need to prepare for that, but when it dawns on them that he's dead and they are better off, it'll be over.”

Merle leaned back against the wall and watched her pull her jacket under her head for a pillow.

“Thanks for coming with me,” he said. “I don't think anyone else would have, except Daryl.”

“I want him dead too, and I won't have you take this on alone.”

She lay down and looked at him from across the room where he was sitting with his elbows resting on his knees, leaning back against the wall. He wondered for a moment what it would be like to hold her and smiled to himself, it was a silly thought, but for a moment he allowed himself to want it.

“What are you grinning about over there?” she asked.

“I'll never tell.”

“Uh huh, I'll get it out of you yet,” she yawned.

“Maybe, but only when I got nothin' left to lose.”

The sun sank so low that he couldn't see her face within the next fifteen minutes, but he could still hear her breathing.

“Goodnight, Michonne.”

“Goodnight, Merle.”


	4. Chapter 4

> **Chapter 4**

* * *

“I'm hunting later, I need some fuckin' meat,” Merle grumbled the next morning.

“I won't complain there. If I eat another cracker I'll cry.”

“No worries. You'll have something good by tonight. Promise.”

“Can't wait,” she smiled.

They backed the car out of the garage that morning to get to the juvenile hall where Merle spent three months of his childhood and he felt dread as he turned down the road just out of town that led to the place.

“Hard to imagine a child being sent away for taking food,” she sighed. “What kind of people would do that to a kid?”

“It doesn't happen to all kids, but kids who come from drunken shitty households are easier to put in a place like this. I've been trash since way back when,” he chuckled.

“Nobody is trash, Merle.”

“Tell them people back at the prison. I think they didn't get the memo.”

“I will.”

“Uh huh.”

“Don't think I would do it?”

“I guess you would. I know better than to underestimate you,” he smiled.

He wondered if she really would defend him to the group, he could imagine feeling like a million bucks if she ever did.

At the end of the dirt road, they were met with a hoard of about 25 walkers and he grumbled to himself. It meant the place probably wasn't picked over but also that they'd have to deal with the walkers first.

“You got a plan for this?” he asked.

“You honk like hell and drive them away and I'll get in and make sure we can get access.”

“Sounds as good as anything else. Just be careful OK?” he pressed.

“You worried about me?” she grinned.

“Yeah.”

He was about to play it off as a joke but the truth was that he was concerned about her. Michonne was the first person to treat him decently in ages and he needed her to know it meant something to him.

“Well...we'll be OK,” she nodded. “Draw them around that way and come back through the field. The car will make it over that low grass no problem. See you inside.”

“See you there,” he agreed.

She opened the door then and she was gone. Merle put her plan into action right away and he knew it would work, she was a smart woman and he'd be a smart man to let her lead.

He honked the horn over and over and watched her climb a low fence and sneak around the back of the facility to find an entrance.

Merle needed to get back as soon as possible but he had to lead the crowd of undead far away to a field where they would mill around aimlessly for long enough to raid the military camp,

He circled back in time and parked the car next to the chain-link fence and climbed it with ease despite only having one hand. She was at a back door calling for him and he followed her voice.

“Heard you coming,” she nodded when he appeared at the door and she allowed him inside and locked up behind him.

“It's a little crazy out there. Hope we find something to make this worth it.”

“Already did,” she winked.

Michonne walked down a darkened hallway and he followed her. She came to a room that held multiple weapons.

“Was locked. Had to bust the padlock with a hammer I found under the sink in the kitchen,” she explained.

“You don't waste any time do you?” he grinned.

“Nope. Let's load up.”

Merle couldn't be more impressed with her brains, skill, and efficiency. There was nobody who was better suited for this job than her. They did make a great team after all.

They gathered a few 9mm, a .308 Tavor 7 bullpup, a few 12 gauge shotguns, and a sweet Tikka sniper rifle.

“You wanna back me up as sniper on this mission?” he grinned.

“Hell yes.”

There was a decent amount of ammo in the armory area and soon they were more than prepared for the Woodbury showdown.

“I've been thinking. They have a compound just outside the walls of Woodbury.”

“Where they keep the things Phillip doesn't want the residents to see?” Michonne jumped in.

“That's the one. We need to get his men to come into that compound and there's a taller building where you could keep watch and take people out from above.”

“Good plan, but how do we draw them there?”

“Same way we draw the stupid walkers, a car horn.”

“Why not? Simple and easy.”

“Truth. So it's a basic plan anyway.”

“So where do we go now?” she asked.

“Back to your cabin?” he suggested. “That La-z-boy was comfy.”

“Alright,” she grinned. “Didn't you say something about hunting?”

“Hungry?”

“You could say that.”

Merle backed her up on the way to the car as a few walkers were beginning to straggle back to the building.

They hit the highway back to her hideout within the next twenty minutes and Merle felt like there was nothing they couldn't pull off. Michonne was so easy to work with and he allowed her to lead him more than he would even allow it with Daryl. She could hold her own and also back him up, she was someone he truly respected in the afterworld.

/

Merle pulled the car over when he noted a good wooded area to hunt where there was a stream visible from the roadway.

“Gimme an hour tops and I'll have us some meat. Deal?” he asked.

Michonne told him to take his time and said thank you to him for hunting. People back at the prison acted like he owed them food just for putting up with him but the truth was that he had helped to keep them alive and their idea of tolerating him was still very disrespectful. He had fallen from grace to take up with the Governor, he could admit that, but being left to die with only mutilation as an option for survival left him with little choice in friends. When the Governor found him he was desperately in need of antibiotics, shelter, and food. Was he supposed to know the man offering him this was evil at first glance? Was he supposed to turn his back on the man who saved his life the moment he became questionable? Maybe he should have, but Merle had so few people in his life showing him kindness and it was hard to turn his back on the Governor even when he discovered the man was crazy. The last group of people he trusted left him for dead on a rooftop, crazy was a common trait.

He encountered a group of small pronghorn deer after about 30 minutes and sank down to prone position to get the best shot he could. A left-handed shot with a Tavor 7 .308 with no scope had to be as precise as possible. He didn't have the best tools for hunting, but he managed. The deer he aimed for was dropped dead with one shot and didn't even see it coming as the rest of the group ran like the wind. Merle walked toward the kill, excited to be bringing something decent back for Michonne. They all learned to manage on less food than ever before but nothing beat real protein, real blood, real sustenance.

Merle gutted the deer, wrapped it in a black garbage bag, and slung it over his shoulders to get back to her.

“Success,” she grinned upon seeing him coming out of the trees.

“Hope you're hungry,” he nodded and then lay the small deer down in the trunk.

/

They ate like kings that evening after Merle butchered the deer and cooked it up over an open fire in the back yard of Michonne's secret hideaway.

“I'll never walk again,” she muttered as she stared off into the trees.

Merle watched as she set down her dish and then lay back on the grass to breathe easier.

“I take it you're satisfied?” he grinned.

“I need to hibernate now,” she groaned. “I haven't eaten this good in ages. Thank you.”

“My pleasure...we have a big mission ahead. We'll need our strength,” he said.

The reality of their task was right before him now, there was no more preparation needed.

“Having doubts?” she asked.

“Not really, just don't want anything to go wrong.”

“Me neither. We work well together though, I think we can do this.”

Merle looked over at her lying in the grass and the thought of anything happening to her made him anxious about everything.

“I still don't think you should come. I don't want to be responsible for anything happening to you. I don't think I could live with myself,” he said.

She sat up then and looked him right in the eye.

“You're so serious all of a sudden,” she noted.

“The last few days have been good for me,” he explained. “I went from running off on a kamikaze mission to just wanting to hang out with you.”

She smiled at him like she never had before and he fidgeted with a stick, poking at the wood in the fire to distract himself from her eyes.

“These days have been good,” she agreed. “I didn't know we'd get along like this.”

“Never thought you'd be able to stand me this long?” he joked.

“I didn't say that," she argued. "We've had our disagreements, but I've never felt hatred for you."

"Oh."

"Merle, you need to get used to us being friends," she laughed. "I like you, you big goof."

Rendering a Dixon man silent was no small task, but she had done it more than once already. All he could do was look up at her and smile, there just weren't any words to go with how he felt.

The sun teased them, bobbing upon the horizon for a moment and then sinking slowly beneath a distant line of trees as he waited for her to speak again.

“We're going to kick ass tomorrow and then who knows where things might go for us?” she smiled.

“You could have a future in motivational speaking,” he joked.

“It's a defense mechanism, isn't it?” she said.

“What do you mean?”

“Every time I'm nice to you, you start joking around.”

“I'm just not used to it.”

“It's OK. It's just kinda interesting trying to figure you out.”

“When you do figure me out, let me know how the hell I work,” he grinned.

She laughed then, a big hearty laugh like he'd said something hilarious and when her laughter died down he found her looking at him through the firelight like she was really considering him in some way. Her eyes held answers, he was sure of it, but he couldn't decipher them.

/

Merle pulled off his shirt in the darkness of the backyard that night after Michonne went inside to change. A pure silvery full moon looked down at him as he dumped some cool water over his head. They would be leaving in the morning, whatever would be would be, but he felt anxiety about it like he didn't expect days before. He imagined her being taken hostage, or shot, or killed and it messed with him deep down inside. Before he could walk back inside, Michonne came back out to stand next to him. She looked up at the same silvery moon and then her arm wrapped around his bare body. She stayed that way, her hand on his waist and her cheek lying against the side of his chest. It only felt right to put his arm around her in return. It was just the two of them then, in silent contemplation of the next day and of what was happening between them.

“Come inside,” she said.

“Are you trying to confuse me?” he asked as he looked down at her hands on his skin.

“I'm not trying to do anything but be close to you,” she said.

“I'll take it.”

They walked inside and once again he watched her until she was asleep. He wanted to talk about it, he wanted to know what she was thinking but it was probably better to save it until after Woodbury. It was better to have a clear head for what they were about to do, but if he survived Woodbury, he had to find out for sure what was going on between them if anything.


	5. Chapter 5

> **Chapter 5**

* * *

Michonne was up before him the next day and he found her cleaning weapons and counting ammunition on the floor of the cabin.

“Hey,” he began.

“Good morning. There's coffee on the counter.”

“We did pretty good on that haul, hey? All the weapons look OK?” he asked.

“This Tikka is gorgeous, she's mine,” she grinned.

Merle came to sit next to her on the floor and looked at the weapon in her hands.

“You're gonna kill him with that gun.”

“You think?”

“I know it.”

He could see it already, he knew what a good shot she was and there was just something about the way she looked...triumphant.

“Merle...will you pray with me? You don't have to, I just feel like I need it this morning.”

“Not sure if the big man will listen to me at all, but I'll give it a try.”

Michonne took his hand and lay her other hand on his knee before closing her eyes and he didn't know what to do with himself.

“Heavenly father. We're about to do something very dangerous, but righteous. Please watch over us as we try to free the people of Woodbury. If there was another way, we would do it, but Phillip has to die. Forgive us and protect us. Amen.”

“Amen,” he repeated.

She opened her eyes and looked down at their hands touching and he wished so badly that he had two hands to hold both of hers at that moment. She left her hand holding his for a moment, squeezed his hand, and then let go.

“Eat, and then we need to go before I lose my nerve,” she said.

Michonne drove to Woodbury that morning and it was like driving through a dream. Merle wanted to tell her to turn the car around. He wanted to suggest that they drive and never stop running. They could just run away and be together and never look back. His mind raced while it could about the most ridiculous things he could imagine. He imagined them in Mexico making love on the beach in the bright sunshine and...

“Merle?”

“Huh?”

“You were really off somewhere there, weren't you?” she laughed.

“You have no idea how off.”

“I was saying, I need you to boost me up the ladder for that taller building in the area we're going to. When I'm up there I can signal to you and then you start honking. When they start rolling up, you'll need to get out of there fast and go to that single-story building with all the windows to the left.”

“Sounds good.”

“You still good?” she asked.

“Yeah, just a lot on my mind.”

“Get yourself zen, my friend. We're about to come stomping into the lion's den.”

They pulled up at first light and he tucked the car back into some trees while he helped her get into position. He couldn't lace his fingers together for her to step into, so he simply bent over for her to step onto his back.

“Jesus,” she winced. “Won't I hurt you?”

“I'm good. You're only little,” he assured her.

She managed to just barely reach the access ladder and reached down for one brief second to touch his cheek before continuing up.

“Be safe, Merle. We got this.”

He paused for a moment, watching her disappearing up the ladder, and tried to freeze the moment in his mind.

Back to the car, he moved, and then it was on. Nothing about the day indicated what was about to happen. It was breathlessly calm and the sun was shining in a deep blue sky. He wished they could just drive away, but it was too far gone. Merle drove the car into the middle of the lot where there were buildings on either side. He looked up to the building where Michonne was perched with her Tikka and when her signal came, he still didn't feel ready but he lay on the horn anyway.

It took a good minute or two before he could detect movement approaching from Woodbury and then he made a mad dash for the building Michonne mentioned. He pulled his guns out and made sure they were all close and cocked. This was it. Up on the rooftop, he noticed her sink lower to avoid being seen and line up her sites. He repeated a silent prayer to God to not let anything happen to her and then there he was.

Merle watched as the Governor and his closest men approached the vehicle, wondering where it came from and starting to become suspicious. They would know damn well that something was up.

Merle waited for Michonne to take her shot, and he backed her up on the ground, ready to let it rip if anyone spotted her.

The Governor came close to the building where Merle was keeping post at the window and he was sure he'd be spotted when all of a sudden a shot rang out and the Governor's head exploded in a red mist.

“Fuck,” Merle breathed in stunned disbelief.

All of his men started firing into the general area and Merle prayed that Michonne would just stay up on the roof where she wouldn't be found. There's no way she would just hide, but he still hoped she would.

Merle began shooting out a broken window and took down three men as Martinez zeroed in on where the shots were coming from.

“Damn it!” he groaned.

Merle refocused his attention on the door as Martinez burst in and fired a shot right at him before he could think straight. From the look of it, Michonne had gotten one shot at Martinez before he even entered, he was slumped over with a bullet in his upper arm but still moving in on Merle somehow. The blinding hot sting of a bullet in his shoulder stole his breath and knocked him for a loop for a second. He fired back once while he still could and dropped Martinez dead. There was more of a gunfight going on outside and it sounded ugly, but he was starting to blackout from a large shoulder wound. He could hear Michonne dropping all of the men coming at him outside the building and he thanked God for her and that Tikka. Merle got back up to the window and couldn't see Michonne to save his life. The view from the window was too limited and he was starting to fade into blackness.

“Michonne,” he said, but there was no voice to be heard.

He crawled to the door and tried his best to get standing but he was too weak and all he could manage was to squirm under a desk in the corner to wait it out. Five minutes past and he couldn't hold on anymore. Full body shaking overtook him and he felt like he might throw up. He couldn't hear anything anymore and there was nothing but fuzz before his eyes.

“Just run, honey...please, just run before they get you too,” he muttered through clenched teeth, and then he passed out cold.

/

“Merle!”

“Mmmm...”

“Merle! Where the hell are you?”

He opened his eyes and saw Michonne's boots before his face.

“Oh my God! Come on!”

He was being yanked from under the desk and roughly pulled to his feet.

“Merle. Listen to me!”

Michonne smacked his face hard and he came around with a startled expression.

“Get your ass out to the car or we're both gonna die here cause I'm not leaving you.”

He was covered in blood and followed her mindlessly without arguing. He couldn't even think of words. He didn't know what happened after he'd been shot and after she pushed him full force into the car, she wasn't explaining anything, she was only driving.

/

“Hershel! Rick! Daryl!”

Michonne stood at the gates of the prison and screamed at the top of her lungs, it was all she could do. Finally, they came filing out and Daryl was at the front of the pack.

“What happened?” he demanded when he noticed all the blood coming from his brother on the ground next to her. "Where the hell have you been?"

“Help me get him in!” she hollered. "We can explain later!"

Rick, Daryl, and Glenn hauled Merle inside on a makeshift stretcher and she followed closely behind, explaining what they had done and how it all happened.

“You shouldn't have done it alone!” Daryl growled. “What were you thinking?”

Hershel interrupted then, “We don't have time to argue, Daryl. He might need a transfusion and I need to get this bullet out. What blood type is he?”

“O positive,” Daryl answered.

“Who's a match?” Hershel asked. “Quickly. If he can get some blood I think he'll make it.”

“I can do it,” Michonne insisted. “I'm O positive.”

“Come on over and have a seat,” Hershel said as he began to pull out the necessary equipment.

Michonne needed Merle to open his eyes, she needed to talk to him. There was so much left unsaid, so much left undone.


	6. Chapter 6

> **Chapter 6**

* * *

Michonne ate flatbread drenched in canned molasses after the transfusion to raise her blood sugar and watched as Hershel worked on extracting the bullet fragments from Merle's shoulder. The bleeding was under control by this point and Hershel assured her that he would make it.

Michonne finished the flatbread and knew she should probably get some air or some rest, but she couldn't leave. Maggie and Beth assisted Hershel and Daryl came in to sit next to her.

“What happened?” Daryl asked again now that he was calmer.

“He was going to try to take out the Governor alone, I insisted on going with him. We had a good plan, but sometimes even good plans fail,” she frowned.

“Hershel says he'll make it...sorry, I snapped back there.”

“It's OK. We did it though, the Governor is dead.”

“You're as crazy as him,” Daryl joked. “You both think you're invincible.”

“We made a good team,” she shrugged.

Hershel started on some sutures to close the wounds and asked who wanted to stay with Merle at night until he was out of the woods.

“I need someone with him all night for about 10 days. If infection sets in, he could be in trouble. He needs regular temperature checks and someone needs to make sure the wound doesn't change color or anything like that,” Hershel explained.

“I will,” Michonne spoke up.

“You?” Daryl asked.

“You've got Carol to watch out for. I got this,” she nodded.

“He snores,” Daryl smirked. “Have fun with that.”

“I know he snores, it's all good,” she insisted.

“He's still pretty out of it. I gave him a little something so he wouldn't be hollering while I worked on this, but he should be coming around soon. We need him moved back to his cell,” Hershel instructed.

Hershel explained that if Michonne was going to care for him it would be intimate and take commitment.

“He has a lot of damage to his shoulder, his arm will be in a sling. He needs his wounds checked regularly and he'll need help washing up. I'll check on him throughout the day too but his recuperation will depend on you keeping vigil over him at night. He needs to avoid infection or this could get bad.”

“I'll take care of everything,” she insisted. “It's no problem.”

“This is very good of you, Michonne.”

He went into detail about signs of infection and she felt ready to take over as night nurse.

/

Daryl set up a cot in Merle's cell for Michonne and Herschel brought supplies and a thermometer for her to take care of him.

Carol stopped by to bring her food before it got dark and paused to look at him, sleeping on the bed.

“He looks kinda sweet when he's asleep, hey?” Carol grinned.

“He does,” Michonne agreed. “Thanks for bringing the food. I forgot to even come down for supper.”

“There's enough there for you both. Hershel said he should be up soon.”

“I hope so.”

“I can't believe you guys did it...well, I can believe it, but it's great that he's dead. We've been focused on nothing but the Governor for so long,” Carol mused. “Tell Merle thanks as well when he wakes up.”

“I will,” Michonne nodded.

“Well, I'll see you later. Don't need anything else? There's a few more pillows and blankets around here.”

“I'm good. Thanks a lot, Carol.”

/

Everyone was long since sleeping when Merle finally woke up and he clearly had no idea where he was. Michonne lit an oil lamp and hung it on the bars to the cell. He was shifting around, trying to focus on the world around him.

“Shhh...it's OK. Don't move.”

He groaned and was squirming around in bed, trying to move his arm, but Hershel had stabilized it in a sling.

“Merle, you need to stop moving,” she whispered.

The room was still quite dark but he squinted toward her and finally calmed down.

“Michonne?”

“You're OK, just don't move so much, you could mess up your stitches,” she warned.

She needed to check on him to fill in the sheet Hershel had given her for nighttime. His wound needed to be checked, she had to ensure he didn't have any fever and she was shown how to check for his pulse. First, she needed to orientate Merle back to reality.

“You were shot,” she reminded him.

“Is it bad?” he croaked.

“Hershel took care of the wound but it's going to take some time for everything to heal and you had a transfusion so your blood sugar is probably low. When you can, you should try to eat something sweet.”

“Transfusion?” he frowned in confusion.

“Yes, it turns out we're a match so...”

Michonne held up her arm where the site was still covered in a bandage.

He smiled then and reached out to touch her face. She could tell that he was still pretty out of it because he normally wouldn't be so bold with her. His warm hand stayed on her cheek for a moment as he looked up at her with a big dopey grin. He closed his eyes just like he was drifting off to sleep and out of nowhere he muttered, “Love you," almost inaudibly.

His whole body relaxed suddenly and he looked instantly dead to her.

“Merle?”

She nudged his shoulder and he didn't react so she shook him harder.

“Merle!”

Michonne jumped up and ran to get Herschel as fast as her legs would carry her and she found herself in an uncharacteristic panic as she waited for Herschel to explain what was wrong with him back in the cell.

“I need 5% Dextrose, go get Beth to bring it fast,” he said.

Michonne ran to collect Beth, who was in charge of the medical supplies and well versed from her father about what everything was used for.

“Beth, please come fast! Your dad needs 5% Dextrose! I don't know what that is but Merle needs it now!” she exclaimed.

Beth rolled over in bed and opened the trunk next to her bunk to retrieve it and followed Michonne back to the cell.

“Can you start a line, Bethy?” Hershel asked.

“I got it,” she nodded and began to look for a good vein on Merle's arm.

“What's happening?” Michonne demanded after being left in the dark for 5 minutes straight.

“Low blood sugar...guess I should have started this IV but we're trying to be smart with supplies. He should come around pretty soon,” Herschel assured her. “Was a good thing you were watching him though.”

“Jesus,” Michonne gasped as Daryl ran in like a bat out of hell.

“What's going on?”

“Low blood sugar, but he's going to be OK,” Michonne explained as Hershel and Beth kept working on Merle.

/

When the room was quiet again, she just looked at Merle breathing softly. Hershel said he'd be fine now but he seemed so fragile. He had gone from speaking to her, to passing out, and then she thought about the last thing he said to her. He mustn't have been thinking straight, but still, it affected her in a way she never expected.

_Love you._

She found it hard to sleep but knew she should try so she got up to pull the cot right up next to his bunk. Maybe she would hear it if there was a problem in the night.

“Goodnight, Merle,” she said to his sleeping form, "don't you dare scare me like that again.”


	7. Chapter 7

> **Chapter 7**

* * *

Merle was startled awake by the sound of Judith crying and opened his eyes to bright sunlight and heat. His body ached everywhere and he quickly realized there was an IV in his arm and that Michonne was next to his bunk on a cot. Nothing made sense and he needed to wake her up to know what happened.

“Michonne...hey, Michonne,” he whispered and moved some of her hair off her face to get her attention.

“Hey,” she smiled. “How do you feel?”

“Fine...what's this about?” he asked, pointing to the IV pole.

“You don't remember last night at all?”

“I don't remember anything since Woodbury.”

She filled him in on everything and he felt less confused and that was good. The IV was removed from his arm and he sighed to himself in relief just to be alive.

“Can't believe I'm not dead,” he smiled weakly.

“No, but you are injured. I'm going to look out for you at night and help you during the day...your shoulder will take some time to heal,” she explained.

“My whole body hurts,” he winced as he tried to change position but found that he couldn't.

“You have to wait just a bit for more painkillers and I need to take your temperature for Hershel's chart.”

“Huh?”

“He's concerned about infection. I have to take your vital signs every few hours.”

“So...you're my nurse?” he asked.

“I volunteered to watch out for you.”

“Why?”

“Cause I wanted to. Stop pestering me with questions and hold this under your tongue,” she smirked.

She lay her hand on his forehead and he opened his mouth as she offered him a thermometer like a child. She looked at a watch hanging from the cell door and then took back the thermometer to read it. It was fascinating being cared for by someone like Michonne. He saw her as a beautiful warrior type of woman, not that she wasn't also maternal in some way, but caring for him seemed odd in his mind.

“All good.”

“Michonne?”

“Yes?”

“I fucked up the plan. I didn't mean to.”

“Stop. You're alive and that bastard is dead, that's all that matters.”

“You were amazing,” he said. “I saw the shot that took him out, it was beautiful.”

“Thanks,” she smiled. “You killed a good few yourself. We're a great team.”

“We are,” he agreed. “Never had a better time almost getting myself killed before.”

“Same,” she smiled.

She looked tired but just as pretty as ever and he couldn't help feeling excited that she had volunteered to stay by his side until he got better. He really didn't remember anything that happened since Woodbury, all he did remember was a tiny snippet of a dream where he was gazing up at her and saying he loved her. He hadn't really stopped to define the way he felt for her, but if he had to call it something it would have to be love. After what they'd been through and just the way he felt being with her, it was love for him and he was OK with that. One-sided love was better than nothing. Michonne said more than once that she liked him and that was enough to make him want to keep living.

She offered him some water and he drank it gratefully.

“It's like having a 50-year-old baby you never asked for, huh?” he winked.

“Hey, I did ask for this job,” she corrected him. “You just focus on getting better and don't worry about me. I'm going to get you some food and talk to Hershel.”

/

Merle lay on the hard prison mattress of his bunk with his shoulder throbbing and his head pounding but he was content. Michonne was OK and he would recover in time. His already disabled arm was now even more useless with a shoulder injury but he'd manage somehow. Learning to do everything one-handed was no picnic but he struggled through it all. Buttons, eating, opening almost anything, getting up from the ground, everything was harder with only his non-dominant hand.

Hershel returned before Michonne and explained that he didn't want him getting out of bed until he had something to eat and was able to keep it down.

“If you go collapsing with your shoulder like that we're gonna have trouble and you were passing out just last night,” Hershel explained.

“We'll have to risk it, I need to pee,” Merle argued.

To his astonishment, he was forced to use a bottle like he was in the hospital and was still grumbling about it to himself when Michonne returned with food.

“Hope you're hungry,” she smiled.

“Not really but if it means Hershel will let me get out of bed to piss I'll eat anything.”

“Excuse me?”

“Nevermind.”

She offered him some flatbread that Carol made daily with jam and a hot cup of instant coffee.

“Hershel says you can get cleaned up if you keep the food down...so how do you want to do that?”

“I could just go take a shower. I don't feel like I'm gonna fall or anything,” he assured her.

He did want to get washed up, he was still covered in old sweat and dirt from the last few days on the road.

“You'll have to take off your sling I guess. I'll just check that the shower is free.”

“Not used to being so fussed over,” he shrugged.

“It's no big deal. You were only shot yesterday, nobody expects you to be at your best right now.”

“I guess so,” he relented.

Merle liked the idea of being seen as manly to Michonne, not some weakling who needed to be spoon-fed. He loved her being around him all the time but he didn't want to be a burden to anyone either. Merle finished up the food she brought him and only felt a little like he might be sick, thankfully there was no dizziness. She returned after checking on the shower and had a plan for getting him showered.

“So, Herschel says if you're able to walk, you can go to the showers but you need to try not to get the bandages wet.”

“Done.”

“He also said you have to take someone in with you though, just in case you fall. He says it could really mess up your arm if you fall. Do you want me to get Daryl?”

“Daryl?”

“I figured you'd be more comfortable around him,” she shrugged.

“Naked?” he grinned. “Not a chance.”

“Who do you want to take with you?” she asked.

“Ain't you my nurse?”

“Uh...”

“It's OK. You don't have to if it's weird. You can get somebody else.”

Merle was not embarrassed about nudity and if he was being honest, he wondered if she had any interest in his body. He felt like he'd be able to tell by the way she looked at him.

“No, I don't mind. I just didn't know if you'd be comfortable with it," she explained.

“Well, you'll just be nearby if I fall, right? You can close your eyes if you want,” he teased.

“We're both adults,” she nodded awkwardly. "It'll be fine."

It was the first time he'd ever seen Michonne even slightly ruffled or awkward and he loved it. It was a whole different side to her.

/

It took him ages to get up from the bed and Michonne suggested getting a rope to tie to the underside of the bunk above him to help him pull himself up. He liked that idea. Anything that made him more able to take care of himself was good.

Finally they made it to the shower area and he had a few members of the group stop along the way to thank him and offer him well wishes, it was new but it was nice.

Michonne walked him into the shower and set his clean clothes and a towel down on a table in the corner as he started on the buttons of his shirt.

“Come here,” she said and he obeyed her easily.

She told him to turn around so she could untie the sling behind his neck. She unfastened the rest of the buttons for him as well and he didn't bother reminding her he could do it himself. She pushed the shirt back over his shoulders and he wondered if she could tell that his heart was racing. She folded the sling slowly and lay it on the table in the corner and asked him how he was feeling.

“Not dizzy or anything,” he informed her.

“I can leave if you want me to.”

“I don't want you to go, not unless you want to. I'm not shy or anything.”

She looked a little amazed by his response.

“So, you don't feel weird about taking off all your clothes in front of me?” she asked as if she didn't believe him.

“I don't like how my wrist looks now and the rest of me ain't perfect but I am what I am. You won't laugh will you?” he asked.

“I would never laugh at you,” she said and he knew that she meant it.

He started on his belt then and she looked like she might faint or something. He loved how off-kilter she was. Merle stepped out of his boots and then pushed his khakis down, laying them on the table next to her.

“You look like you're gonna drop,” he chuckled. “I promise I won't hurt myself if you wanna go.”

“No...Hershel would be upset if you fell and I'd never forgive myself. I'm OK.”

“Alright then,” he said and then rid himself of his boxers.

Merle could see her pulse beating on the side of her throat and could tell that she was losing it inside and trying her best not to look at him. He put his boxers on the table right next to her and walked over to start the shower running. They had some warm rainwater for the shower system and it felt like heaven as he stepped beneath it.

/

Michonne stood silently in the corner. She couldn't move.

Merle was still standing with his back to her and her eyes moved down his body all the way to his feet and back up to his neck. He was trying to avoid getting his shoulder wet and she could tell it hurt him to move his injured arm. He picked up a bar of soap and began to rub it under his arms and chest and then dropped it when it slipped from his hand. She didn't know if she should offer to pick it up for him, but then he managed to get it himself.

Everyone knew Merle was strong but now that she was looking at his entire body undressed, he was clearly even stronger than she suspected. For a man in his 50s, his body was rippling with well-toned muscle and there was hardly an ounce of fat on him. She was staring at his tight ass when he turned around and she looked immediately to the ceiling.

“You OK?” he asked.

“Of course,” she answered in a shaky voice that surprised even her.

“Not gonna look at me?” he teased.

“I don't know why I'm even being like this,” she laughed then.

It was pretty funny after all.

“You're the biggest badass here, but I finally found something that scares you,” he joked.

“I'm not scared!” she argued.

“Sure.”

Merle continued to wash his body then, facing her, and eventually, she couldn't help looking at him. He was stunning and she was mesmerized. The way she was reacting physically to his body felt so good but also a little confusing. It was very true that she liked Merle more than she ever expected to but she didn't know how it would work if she made a move. She didn't know if he was attracted to her as well. He looked so free in himself as she watched him as if he were all alone. She admired how at ease he was with his own body. His hands moved over his skin and as he leaned over to wash his hair to avoid getting his shoulder wet her eyes zoned in on his dick. Even without being hard, he was a good 5 inches and she was sure it was written all over her face, how much she liked what she saw.

“Caught ya lookin',” he quipped in that rough growl he called a voice and she jumped out of her skin.

“I'm sorry,” she winced, “it was an accident.”

Merle turned off the water and walked toward her without covering a damn thing and she felt parts of her come to life that had been asleep for years. She imagined him pinning her to the shower room wall and just taking her, and she had to stop looking like that's what she was thinking.

“Towel?” he asked.

“Ugh...yeah. Here,” she said.

“I made you uncomfortable, didn't I?” he sighed.

“No. I swear it's OK. I want to be here for you,” she said. “It's just been a while since I saw anyone naked.”

“I get it,” he said as he dried himself off. “Think I'd probably be the same if I ever saw a woman naked again...not much danger of that though.”

“You never know,” she smiled. “I sure didn't wake up expecting to see this today.”

“I haven't put you off men?” he winked.

“Not at all...this was absolutely no hardship for me.”

“Oh yeah?” he grinned.

“Shut up,” she chuckled. “Let's get you back to bed before Hershel comes looking for you.”

He stepped into his boxers then and she wished she could be as free as he was with his body. Just watching him shower had been an experience she didn't see coming, it was so intimate and left her wanting him in a way she couldn't deny and no longer felt the need to.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a little unintentional tit for tat ;)

> **Chapter 8**

* * *

Michonne stayed right by his side all day, Hershel forbid him from getting up except for short walks up and down the cellblock. They chatted casually about their lives before the turn and found a few things in common. She liked watching live music, she enjoyed a nice cold beer in the summer, and if she could spend a day anywhere it would be at the beach. Merle could agree with all of that, but he also loved the woods.

Michonne worked as the director of an art gallery before the turn. She had a home that was filled with art and sculptures and she used to read at least a book a week. Merle didn't go into too much detail about his life before the end because he was a much better person in the apocalypse than before it.

He had a touch of fever around supper time and Hershel gave him Tylenol to reduce it and reminded Michonne what a great job she was doing of catching things. The wound looked a little red so Michonne pointed it out to Hershel, who treated it with a herbal antibiotic he made from local plants.

Merle was feeling very well cared for and after a long day of resting, chatting with Michonne, and going for an evening walk in the hallway, he was ready for bed.

He could tell that Michonne was wiped, so as soon as it was dark he told her to get some rest. Nobody was stirring in his area of the cellblock after dark. Everyone was being very considerate and giving him space and quiet to recuperate. Merle could feel that their feelings toward him had changed and he couldn't help enjoying it.

“Not too early for you?” she asked.

“No, it's all good. I'll be out like a light in no time, the Tylenol makes me drowsy,” he insisted.

“If you're sure,” she smiled. “Today was nice. Do you still feel OK?”

“I'll be good for a few hours, you get some rest,” he pressed and then yawned for effect. He didn't want her wearing herself out on his behalf. Merle pulled his blankets up and closed his eyes when she turned off the oil lamp.

“Goodnight, Michonne,” he said since it was a bit of a ritual to say it that way.

“Goodnight, Merle.”

He pretended to be sleeping very quickly, he half hoped he'd get to see her in her panties but was rewarded so much more than he could have imagined.

After twenty minutes, Michonne looked over at him in the dark as he 'slept' and paused to listen to him breathing perhaps. He watched her with his eyes open just the tiniest bit so he could see her in the faint light coming in through the hallway. In only dim light, she couldn't see that he could see her. It was so juvenile, but so much fun and after spending all day indoors he liked the idea of fun.

Eventually, after reading for about half an hour, she pulled off her top and stretched her arms up over her head. She had the most gorgeous, lean but strong body he'd ever seen. He dare not move as she unzipped her pants and slid them down her legs and when she crouched down to put something away in her bag his eyes settled on her ass, barely covered by her panties. He lay completely still, his dick getting stiff, and his mind racing.

She stood up then and unlatched her bra and he forced himself to close his eyes then. It was one thing to sneak a peek at her in her panties but she sure as hell wouldn't consent to him staring at her breasts. He heard her settle on the bed then and opened his eyes just enough to see her again.

He almost died then as her body came into view. She was on her back, completely uncovered and only in her panties. Did she know he was faking sleep? Could she possibly be this cruel? Was she trying to kill him?

He presumed she'd be under the sheets and he sure as hell didn't have her consent to look at her topless but he was dying inside. Merle had never seen any woman this beautiful in his whole life. What he didn't understand is why she was laying this way. It was hot as usual but it didn't really explain her state of undress with no covers. Michonne never complained about the heat once.

She sighed and raised her arms up over her head and arched her back, allowing the foot closest to him to slide slowly off the bed and onto the floor. Her eyes were closed and she looked deep in thought as he tried to keep his eyes closed. He felt like such a dirty man to be looking at her when she didn't know it but he couldn't stop to save his life.

She growled a little then and it startled him so much that he almost flinched but stayed silent and still to avoid detection. He could see her right hand move down her body then and his mind started to go blank as it paused around her navel and then down between her legs.

_Fuck...oh fuck! She's really gonna do this!_

Her breath became slow and her knees parted as her hand began to move. Merle was rock hard then. He was still in pain and at risk of infection but this was the single most sensual thing he'd ever witnessed and he couldn't stop his body from thinking he could be any use to her sexually. In his current condition, he'd be lucky to survive a blow job but try telling his dick that.

She whimpered then and her hand moved inside her panties, killing him dead on the spot. Her left hand moved over her breasts and then her fingertips drifted ever so lightly over her nipples, bringing them to attention.

_I'm going to die watching this...I survived being shot just to die from need._

Her legs spread even wider then, and her breath came just a little deeper and slower as she bit her lip. He wanted so badly to touch her, to kiss her perfect lips, to tell her how gorgeous she was.

It felt like she was comfortable around him, like she liked him, but he still didn't know for sure if it would make her scream to know he was watching her. Maybe she'd be creeped out or disgusted, he couldn't say for sure, but it had been years since anyone so much as touched him and this was the closest he'd probably get to intimacy again.

She seemed to be getting closer then and she almost tore her own panties down her legs. There was nothing sexier on Earth than her sexual frustration. It looked like she needed to cum more than she needed to breathe. He wanted to be the one to please her. He wanted to make all her dreams come true if only she'd let him.

He wished he had the strength to just roll over and do the right thing, but it just wasn't in him to do it. Her skin, her perfect face, the sound of her pleasure...she was all things beautiful left in the world.

She raised her legs up then, up and open like the man of her dreams was between them and fucking her just right. He viewed all of this from the side of the bed, so anything especially explicit was not visible to him. He told himself that made it less evil to be watching but knew it wasn't OK either way.

She was right there and his dick was killing him.

Michonne moaned and took a slow deep open-mouthed breath as it hit her and it was breathtaking to witness. She arched her back and her face contorted in silent agony as she came. She was almost completely silent, they all had to masturbate silently at the prison, but this was impressive for even prison masturbation. Her chest heaved as she rode it out and her eyes rolled back in her head as her legs fell limp against the cot.

He was left absolutely breathless and then the guilt set in. Michonne was the only woman to treat him like a human being in years and here he was betraying her trust and privacy. He knew then that he really didn't deserve her friendship. A good man would have looked away.

/

Michonne opened her eyes and held her hands to her face for a moment, trying to get the image of his body out of her mind now that she had cum, but it was still there. She looked over to check that he was still asleep and thanked God that he was such a heavy sleeper. All day, she had held onto the sexual frustration of his naked body and finally, she was able to rest somewhat. It was animalistic to think of how good his dick would feel inside her, but she couldn't help it. She imagined him hard and all over her and reaching orgasm had never been so damned easy before.

Something had to give. Michonne wanted him and there was just no more fighting it.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> posting chapter 10 as well today...

> **Chapter 9**

* * *

Hershel walked into Merle's cell the moment he opened his eyes the next day and explained that Michonne was showering and eating breakfast.

“She sure deserves a break after all she's been doing for me,” Merle noted.

“She is quite the nurse, isn't she?” Herschel agreed. “How are you feeling this morning?”

“Sore, but it's all good.”

“Are you keeping food down still?”

“Yeah. It's just harder to get around but Michonne isn't letting me do much for myself anyway,” he chuckled.

“Maybe she's sweet on you?” Hershel suggested.

“Wouldn't that be something?” Merle laughed. “Nah, she's just a good person. Not many people like her left nowadays.”

“You should have seen her when we brought you in,” Herschel continued as he examined Merle's wound. “She was pretty distraught.”

“Really?”

“She volunteered for the transfusion the second that Daryl mentioned your blood type...and she insisted on being the one to stay with you.”

“That is weird, huh?” Merle mused.

“Maybe it makes perfect sense,” Herschel said. “Look, I know you're no kid, Merle...but I've been around a little longer than you. Maybe you and her could be more than you think.”

“Don't,” Merle said.

It wasn't nice to play with a man's feelings when he was down.

“Don't what?” Herschel pressed.

“Michonne is...she's so sweet. She feels bad that I got shot and she's taking care of me cause we got to be friends while we were away. Michonne tried looking for something good in me, God bless her.”

“Alright,” Hershel sighed. “Just keep an open mind cause maybe an old-timer like me can see something you don't.”

“If it means anything, I hope to God you're right.”

Merle was struck again by strong feelings of guilt about the night before. She had seen him naked but he knew about it, she had no idea he had seen her that way. He was more than OK with her seeing his body but he highly doubted that she would feel the same. He knew he couldn't live with it, the only answer was to tell her and hope she would forgive him.

/

Michonne finished breakfast and collected a variety of things to bring back for Merle. He would be hungry and seemed to be getting his appetite back.

Daryl stopped her before she left the kitchen and thanked her for being so good to his brother.

“It's nothing. We're friends,” she smiled.

“He could always use more friends."

"We get along a lot better than I thought we would...it was actually really nice."

"Really," Daryl smiled and raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah...well, I should get back."

"Say hi for me," Daryl teased.

When she arrived back at the cell, Merle was sitting on the edge of his bunk with his head in his hand. The sling on his arm looked like it had just been replaced with a clean one.

“Hey you,” she smiled. “Hershel changed your sling?”

“Yeah,” he answered simply without looking at her.

“Do you have a headache again? I brought you some food.”

“I need to talk to you,” he said.

Michonne didn't understand why he was acting so strangely, he looked very upset and the last time she'd seen him he seemed normal.

“Sure...what's up?”

“Maybe you should sit down,” he said.

Michonne set the tray of food on the bedside table and pulled a chair up in front of him.

“You're making me nervous,” she said, trying to lighten the mood.

“I was gonna go kill the Governor alone and you risked your life to come with me...you made friends with me and I feel like we got kinda close. At least that's how it felt to me.”

“Why are you speaking in past tense?” she asked.

“Cause this is where you stop being my friend.”

“Merle...”

“I let you down,” he said as he looked up at her directly. "Maybe they were right about me after all."

“What are you talking about?”

“Last night...I wasn't sleeping.”

Her heart dropped and she realized instantly what he was talking about.

“I should have rolled over and I'm really sorry that I didn't but...I just never seen anything so beautiful before. I know I never will again.”

She was a little embarrassed but she wasn't angry. He wasn't allowing her any time to answer but she knew she had to interrupt soon before he broke down.

“I'm a sad lonely bastard, I know that. I was supposed to be your friend but you're so fuckin' beautiful and I just couldn't help myself.”

“Merle-”

“I get it if you don't want to help me anymore. I really fucked this up.”

“Merle hush up a second,” she interrupted.

“Sorry.”

“I'm not mad at you.”

“Why not?”

“I do feel a little weird about it, but I'm not mad. I know you're not a bad person and you know damn well I was looking at you in the shower as well.”

“It's different though, I knew you were there.”

“It is different...but I know you. I know you didn't mean me any harm.”

“I really didn't. I swear to God I'll never pull a stunt like that again if you'll just stay. I don't have anyone on my side except Daryl...I don't wanna lose you.”

She had to stop him, it was killing her to know the depths of his self-hatred. Michonne came to sit next to him on the bunk and leaned her head on his shoulder. She took his hand and held it in her own.

“I'm staying and I'm not mad at you, so stop this.”

“I had to tell you. I feel like shit about it.”

“Can I tell you a secret that might make you feel better?”

“Please.”

“If I had caught you doing that, I would have watched you too.”

“Seriously?”

“Definitely.”

“I may as well tell you, cause there ain't no point in pretending it's not true now...I'm stupid over you, Michonne. I haven't felt like this since grade school. I don't expect you to say anything, I just need to get it off my chest."

She might have laughed a few weeks before if someone told her about this moment, but life did what it wanted and she could only follow. He was right at the edge, broken down in many ways, and this is where he needed to begin building back up. Merle Dixon needed love and she had love to give.

She leaned in before he could start talking again and kissed him once.

His eyes were closed and he didn't breathe even as she moved back to look at him.

“Merle...breathe.”

He finally opened his eyes and drew in a slow deep breath. He paused only a second and then moved in to kiss her back with an adorable amount of force. Like an overly excited puppy, he pulled her in closer with his one good arm and kissed her with everything he had. She felt him turn his head and suddenly his tongue was in her mouth. Michonne understood it. Physical contact after such a long time was like the first hint of spring after a cold and bleak winter.


	10. Chapter 10

> **Chapter 10**

* * *

"Sorry, just excited," he said.

"It's OK," she smiled.

"So what happens now?"

"You're still injured...so nothing too strenuous?" she grinned.

"I could just kiss you all day," he confessed.

Michonne decided it was a perfect time to just lay next to each other and chat for a minute. Anyone walking past his cell door would be baffled but she didn't care anymore.

"Just lay down, I have an idea."

It took Merle a good couple of minutes with assistance to get laying down on the bunk but when he was finally settled, Michonne lay at his side and wrapped her arm around his waist, careful not to move his sore arm.

"This OK?" she said.

"This is real nice...I just can't believe it."

"I told you that good things could happen," she reminded him.

"You did say that, but I sure didn't picture anything this good," he sighed, laying his hand over hers. "I'm gonna be good to you, Michonne. I know people will warn you not to trust me but I won't ever lie to you or hurt you on purpose. I mean, if we're giving this a try together...that's what's happening, right?"

"That's what's happening," she grinned, "and I'm not the type to let other people's opinions dissuade me."

"That's lucky for me," he sighed and turned his head to look at her again. "God...you're so pretty, it doesn't even feel real to be layin' next to you like this."

"Well, I happen to like the way you look too so it makes a lot of sense to me."

Merle leaned in then to kiss her and she held him by the cheek to keep him there a moment longer.

"I like how you kiss," she smiled.

"Good, cause I never wanna stop kissing you.”

"I like how you always close your eyes."

"I take it you don't close your eyes if you know I do," he laughed.

"You got me, but let's keep it like that...I like to look at you when we kiss."

"I'll do anything you ask of me," he said. "Anything at all."

Michonne liked him so much more than she ever imagined possible and now that they were so close, she couldn't stop thinking of him in the shower again. He was unexplored territory and she was curious.

"Merle?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you in a lot of pain right now?"

"Not too bad, I just get sore and stiff from not moving around enough."

She moved over him then and slowly leaned in to whisper into his ear, praying that he wouldn't faint from shock.

"I was just thinking maybe we could make out a little," she breathed.

"Uh yeah...I only got the one hand and it's been a while but I'll do what I can," he insisted and she loved his gusto.

Michonne stayed in her position leaning over him with her back to the cell door. She came down to kiss him again, but this time she lay her hand on his chest and began to move it slowly down his body to his belt.

/

Blank. His mind was a complete blank as he felt her undoing his belt buckle. Her perfect lips against his own and the knowledge that she was about to touch him, it was all too much. His arm was still in a sling and she was laying on the side where his only good arm was, there was so little he could do for her and he hated that fact.

She had his pants open and then her little hand was moving down inside his boxers, leaving him wasted. Why him? He'd never understand it but the time for understanding was over. She had made up her mind and he knew that once she had, she wouldn't be convinced otherwise.

If only he had two good hands to touch her, especially his dominant hand. Pleasing himself was damn near impossible, he hoped like hell he could touch her in a way that she liked.

She was still kissing him and then her fingers wrapped around his cock and he shuddered against her.

“Damn...” he groaned.

She jerked him off nice and slow and the heat built up one stage at a time, compelling him on. Here and there, she'd stop to just lay her hand on his belly or kiss his neck, and then she'd go right back to the sweet torture she was orchestrating with his manhood.

Apparently, she clued into the fact that he couldn't do anything in return from his position so she gently moved to the other side of the bed and avoided bumping into his shoulder.

“I wanna touch you back...but it's kinda hard to get to your skin,” he explained. "I can barely manage my own damn buttons."

Michonne smiled then and performed a clever trick where she removed her bra with her top still on and then took his hand, laying it on her belly.

“Does that help?”

“I'm not gonna make it,” he confessed. “You're too much, honey.”

Merle kissed her then and allowed his hand to move slowly up her shirt. It was still daylight and there was nothing stopping someone from walking in. It made the whole thing a little more exciting to know they would shock anyone who happened to come by and see them.

Her breasts were agonizingly warm, smooth, and perfect as he assumed they would be. She moaned just softly as he ran his fingertips over her nipples and moved his kisses to her neck.

“This is the best thing that ever happened to me,” he said honestly between kisses. “I'm gonna be so good to you when I'm not banged up anymore...I promise I'll give you everything I got.”

“I know you will...this is pretty good already,” she whispered.

Merle loved her dark eyes, soft skin, and sultry mouth. She was the kind of woman who would be in a magazine in the old world, desired by far better men than he was. She was all things good, all things beautiful, and he could hardly fathom how, at least in that moment, she was his...

Everything reached a fever pitch as she continued to jerk him off and he worked his magic with her breasts, finally pulling them to his mouth to use his tongue.

“Oh my God, that's good,” she murmured.

Merle ran his tongue in slow circles around each nipple and then sucked softly before repeating the process. He kissed her warm skin and she moaned against his lips, lighting him on fire for life.

He felt her hand leave his dick for a moment and he realized she was unfastening her own pants. The thought of touching her back was enough to get him so hard that it was painful.

“Touch me,” she whined. “I'm so close...”

Merle shook his head in disbelief at the heaven he was living in.

“You don't need to ask me twice,” he groaned. “Just remember I never did this with my left hand before.”

“I have every faith in you,” she pressed, taking his hand and laying it back on her lower belly.

Merle kissed her again and she went back to taking out her sexual frustration on his dick as he dared to move his hand down inside her black lace panties.

Softness, and perfect warm wetness...it had been so damned long. No woman in the world felt as smooth, slick, and perfect as she did. He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth trying not to cum instantly all over her hand, but it was so hard to fight. His fingers moved down between soaked folds and there he teased her a little with the hint of penetration.

“Mmmm...oh yeah,” she panted.

Back up to the top, he ran a single finger in a slow circle around her clit, causing her legs to open wider and her back to arch slightly off the bed.

“Damn...keep going.”

Her hand moved faster and more frantically on him and he couldn't take it, letting loose all over her hand like a kid.

“Fuck,” he growled. “Sorry, honey.”

“Shhh...just don't stop,” she pleaded as if she barely noticed him getting off.

He turned his full attention to her even as his orgasm was still moving through his veins. She rolled fully within reach of him and he sucked her breasts and used his hand down between her thighs with all the effort within him. She was reacting favorably to his touch so he just kept it up.

/

Michonne was inches from cracking and then he slid one thick finger inside her, stroking her sweet spot inside, and then he went back to the slow agonizing circles around her clit. He teased her so good that she knew sex with him would be beyond anything she'd ever felt.

“That's so good...you got me so close, baby,” she whimpered.

He sucked her right nipple perfectly, and then somehow slid two fingers inside her and pressed the base of his thumb against her clit. Her most sensitive places were all triggered at once and suddenly the world disappeared and she let out a loud cry that he had to stifle by rolling her into his chest.

“Mmmm...oh God...oh my God, Merle!” she growled breathlessly.

“Damn, girl,” he chuckled. “You cum like a tiger.”

“It's been a long time,” she sighed softly as she tried to catch her breath.

“Hey, Merle! So how we feel this mor-”

They both looked up to see Herschel walking in and Michonne yanked her top down in time, thanking God for her cat-like reflexes.

“Well, alright then,” Herschel grinned. “I'll come back in an hour. I see you're doing just fine.”

Michonne buried her face in the pillow and groaned like they'd just been busted by a parent.

“Oh my God!” she exclaimed.

“I know...there's no privacy in this place,” Merle chuckled.

“We need a curtain on the cell door, like now,” she insisted.

“Amen to that.”


	11. Chapter 11

> **Chapter 11**

* * *

Daryl snuck in to see Merle while Michonne was away grabbing breakfast the next morning. He needed to know what was going on. He had hardly seen his brother's face since he returned and that wasn't normal.

“Hey there stranger. How's it going?” he began, walking in to sit on the cot where Michonne slept.

“Nothing. Feeling a lot better now,” Merle answered but there was no hiding that he was excited about something.

“What's the grin about?” Daryl demanded.

There was nothing more frustrating than Merle when he had secrets, his secrets were usually trouble.

“Can you keep something under your hat?” he asked.

“Maybe.”

“Alright then, I ain't tellin' you.”

“Just tell me,” Daryl huffed.

“I made out with Michonne last night.”

“Pfft!” Daryl chuckled.

“I mean it.”

“For real?”

“That so unbelievable?”

“No, sorry...I just never thought you two felt that way.”

“I don't think she did feel that way until just recently. You can't tell anybody though, she might be wanting to keep it quiet still. I think Herschel knows but he won't say anything.”

“I don't really know what to say...it's a surprise. I'm happy for you.”

“You think you're surprised? I was planning a suicide mission and now I got the prettiest woman left in the world next to me.”

“Michonne ain't no dummy, she must see something in you,” Daryl smiled.

“Hope she's right about me.”

“She is.”

There was a moment of silent recognition that things were finally turning a corner then. Daryl and Merle both had women in their lives and a home of sorts. It was a big step forward for both of them and they knew it.

“Hey you,” Michonne said, announcing her presence in the doorway to the cell.

“Hey,” Merle nodded, trying to seem like he wasn't just spilling the beans to his brother.

“Did he tell you about us?” she asked Daryl.

“Uh...nope. He didn't say a thing,” Daryl insisted.

“Uh huh,” she smirked. “You're a bad liar. I'm sure everyone will know soon. It's all good."

“I'll leave you guys to it then, I need to go help Carol with supper,” Daryl grinned as Michonne sat next to Merle.

Merle liked people knowing about them and Michonne didn't seem embarrassed about it or anything. He was honestly a little surprised that falling into the arms of the black sheep wasn't something she wanted to hide.

“You sure this is OK?” he asked her when she lay back on his bunk and let out a nice long sigh.

“What are we talking about?” she asked.

“It doesn't bother you that everyone will know about us?”

“Why would it bother me?”

“I'm the least popular member of this group,” he reminded her.

“I think that might be Andrea again after you just helped to kill the Governor?” she winked.

“Still...people might say stuff about it.”

“They can say whatever they want to, it's fine by me.”

“You're something else, you know that?”

“Look at the world, we have much bigger problems than other people telling us who to love.”

He decided not to focus on the word love, surely she was just using that word to make a point and not because she was speaking about them, still, he liked the sound of the word love coming from her perfect mouth.

“We should get you outside,” she suggested suddenly and he realized she was right, he did feel very cooped up.

“Sounds good to me, I never spent this much time in my room in my whole life.”

“We'll need to stay inside the fence, but just some fresh air would do you good.”

/

Out in the sunshine, he walked at her side with his arm still in a sling.

“This does feel good,” he smiled.

“Merle, what were you like when you were younger?” she asked and he hadn't seen the question coming.

“Like when I was a kid or a teenager?” he asked.

“Both...what were you like?”

“I was a nice little kid. Believe it or not, I was kinda shy. I wanted to be a cowboy,” he grinned, remembering a better time for a moment. “I tried to be good to stay out of trouble at home...by the time I was about ten I figured out that it didn't matter if I was good or bad, I was gonna catch hell no matter what. I was a bad teenager, full of anger and always up to no good,” he sighed. “Nice, huh?”

“You were made angry, you weren't meant to be that way.”

“I guess not.”

“And you're not angry now,” she said, reaching for his hand to hold it as they walked slowly around the grounds.

“I couldn't be angry if I tried right now. I feel so damn lucky.”

“Me too.”

“Yeah?”

“I feel like I can tell you anything,” she said.

“You can. I don't want to bother you about your past, but I wanna know what you were like too. Only if you want to tell me though.”

“I was always pretty serious, like my father,” she began. “My parents were good to me. My dad was always reading or studying something just for the love of it and my mother was patient and kind. She was the most incredible chef. I had a good family life. We were always laughing and enjoying life.”

“We came from totally different backgrounds,” he noted. “You should probably be with someone more like you, someone calm and intellectual who doesn't have such a horrible past but I'm glad you're giving me a shot. There's gotta be a man out there better for you than me but maybe he wouldn't feel the way I do about you.”

“And how is that?” she asked, stopping to stand in front of him.

Why lie to her? Why not just say it and see what happens? Merle was beyond pretending that she wasn't literally everything to him.

“I'd die for you,” he said simply.

“You would?” she asked.

“In a New York minute. I ain't much to look at and I rub almost everyone on Earth the wrong way, but I'd die for you right here and now if I had to.”

“Already?” she asked.

“Already.”

She pulled him down into the kind of kiss that most often happened in the movies. Merle held her with his one good arm and everything felt right. They probably weren't meant to be, in the old world they wouldn't have ever met, but somehow it still felt destined that he would end up right there in that moment with her. There were a million reasons they didn't make sense and yet she was kissing him and holding him so close. In Michonne's arms, he could be anything and everything. He could finally be enough.


	12. Chapter 12

> **Chapter 12**

* * *

Only a week later, Hershel examined Merle's shoulder and found it free of infection and the stitches had closed the wound. The sling was removed and the muscles Merle needed to use his arm worked, even though they were very stiff from lack of use.

“You're a fast healer, but the muscle tissue is still going to take time to be 100%. I need you to avoid lifting anything heavier than ten pounds for a few weeks. I know it's gonna feel like forever but if you follow my advice you'll have full use of your arm again. If you don't overdo it I think you can do without the sling from now on.”

“Anything you say.”

“Not fighting me on this?” Hershel chuckled.

“Nope. Michonne told me to do as you say and I'm doing as she says.”

“You're husband material,” Hershel joked.

“She's so good to me, I'll do what it takes,” Merle nodded.

“She's been waiting on you hand and foot this week, reading to you, and taking you for walks. Didn't I tell you she's sweet on you?”

“Didn't seem possible but you were right.”

“It's just proof that love conquers all when it can still happen in this world, isn't it?” Herschel commented as he packed up his things.

“I never had this before...how do I keep it?” Merle asked.

“Always be honest, always put her first, and don't go to bed angry. That's all there is to it.”

“Really?”

“Yep. It helps to be able to laugh as well,” Hershel added. “Times are hard and laughter will ease the burden. You already know how to love her, just trust yourself.”

“Thanks.”

“No problem, kiddo,” he chuckled.

/

Daryl and Carol weren't around, so the group decided to take the opportunity to have a good gossip session about the new couple.

“So this is a real thing, I'm not having a nightmare?” Rick began.

“I saw it with my own eyes, the two of them kissing outside,” Glenn grinned.

“Ugh,” Maggie shivered. “Why?”

“I don't get it,” Sasha mused. “They don't make any sense.”

“You can say that again! He's so much older than she is,” Rick agreed.

“Merle's not that bad,” Beth spoke up. “He always helped me out with Judith.”

“He taught me how to skin a rabbit,” Carl jumped in.

“He annoys the crap outta me still, but I trust him,” Tyreese defended.

“Well, I don't trust it. He's up to something,” Andrea argued.

“Michonne looks so happy,” Beth sighed. “Every time I look at her now, she's all dreamy-eyed.”

“Over Merle Dixon,” Glenn chuckled. “Imagine that.”

“Someone needs to talk to her and that's going to be me,” Andrea insisted and then stormed off like a drama queen.

“Why does she care so much?” Sasha asked.

“Maybe she's jealous?” Glenn suggested.

They all looked at each other, nobody knew what to say to that.

/

Merle was feeling a lot more like himself and was out of his room most of the day from then on. Now he was able to sit next to Michonne in the main dining area and they got a few odd looks but nobody said anything to them. They both knew it was strange to the group but they also didn't owe anyone an explanation.

Merle finished some stew and noted Beth bouncing Judith on her hip trying to get her to settle. The younger woman had taken on a big role in caring for an infant when Rick was very often busy with managing the group's needs.

“Bring her over!” he called to Beth, who looked relieved to have a moment of peace.

“I know your shoulder is hurt, but can you just watch her while I eat?” she pleaded.

“We got her,” Michonne smiled. “You go ahead.”

Michonne reached for the baby and sat her facing Merle at the table.

“Who's my girl?” he cooed. “You missed Uncle Merle, I knew it!”

The baby stopped fussing and reached out her little hands to be picked up. She was only about 4 months old but she already had her favorites. He wasn't supposed to lift anything more than ten pounds but he couldn't resist a baby.

Merle grabbed her in his one good arm and allowed her to grab at his face with her little hands, scratching his skin and drooling down the front of her sleeper onto his arm.

“I missed you too, girl,” he said.

He managed to keep Judith entertained for a good ten minutes as Michonne watched intently.

“She loves you,” she grinned.

“She's a doll,” he smiled. “Makes me wish I woulda had one of my own.”

“You would be an amazing father.”

“Do you think it'll ever be safe enough to have a baby?”

“Are you speaking generally?”

“Uh...yeah.”

“I think it could be very soon. With the Governor gone it'll be as safe as it can be.”

“True. The world needs more babies...Judith will have no little ones to play with. Maybe Daryl and Carol could have one and Maggie and Glenn.”

“You trying to repopulate the world?” she grinned.

“I'm just a sucker for babies...does this subject bother you?” he asked then when he remembered what she'd lost.

“No, I'm OK, but it's sweet of you to think of that.”

Merle kept pulling faces at Judith to keep her happy and couldn't help thinking of having a baby with Michonne. Apparently, a dopey smile came across his face without him noticing.

“What are you grinning about?” she pressed.

“Just thinking.”

“About?”

"Nothing," he grinned.

"I'll get it out of you," she insisted.

"I'm not admitting a thing."

Merle was thinking of having a family with Michonne but the truth was that he wanted a little time to just be with her before they even thought of that. In the future, he hoped for children with her eyes and her sweet smile, but now he just wanted her.

/

Michonne stayed behind to help clean up after dinner and told him to get back to the cell and rest. He knew better than to argue with her and did as she said. He spent an hour back in the cell just reading and thinking about her but started to wonder where she was. Clean up was normally a fast job with so many people on duty and she was normally no longer than twenty minutes or so.

After an hour, he decided to go and find her. He was eager to have her close again. Being away from her for even a while now was agony so he walked the hallways of the prison back to the kitchen where he heard two voices coming from behind the kitchen door.

“Pardon me, but I just don't get it.”

It was Andrea he could hear talking and that didn't really faze him until he heard Michonne answering and he froze on the spot.

“I don't expect you to get it. I'm not concerned about people understanding.”

“I'm just worried that he's manipulating you, Michonne. He was right by the Governor's side through the worst of his actions. He killed people!”

“We've all killed people, Andrea. He's not the same person who did the Governor's bidding. We killed the Governor together, or did you forget?”

“I'm telling you, he's not who you think he is. He's only going to use you and then he'll be right back to the same old Merle.”

Merle winced and held his breath, praying against all logic that she wouldn't change her mind. He knew how close she had been with Andrea even if they weren't as close anymore.

“Did you know that he's part of the reason people let you come back? He told everyone that they should give you another chance, that it was just the Governor who was the enemy.”

“I didn't know that.”

“There might be a lot you don't know about him. He's not perfect, nobody who's left standing now is...we've all done terrible things to survive, but he makes me feel like there's something good on the other side of today.”

“I don't want to see you hurt, that's all,” Andrea sighed.

“It won't be him that hurts me, we love each other."

“Pretty serious already,” Andrea noted.

Merle swallowed hard on the other side of the door to the kitchen. His palms were instantly sweaty and he felt stunned but relieved. They were together every day now, they kissed and touched each other, but they hadn't made love yet and she hadn't said the word love to him directly. She was defending him to someone like Andrea, she was standing her ground for what they shared and he felt reborn. He could be anything with her love, maybe the past could really be forgotten.

“It is serious,” Michonne pressed. “He's the one for me. I can't explain it, it's just something I feel in every cell of my body.”

“I guess you know what you're doing.”

“I do. I lost everything in this world, I lost my own child. I never planned to love anyone again, it felt wrong to even think of it, but this is right for me.”

“But how do you know?” Andrea pressed.

“He was never trying to get me to fall for him...he never would have thought that was even possible, but I did fall. He was just kind and funny, and he makes me feel like tomorrow is worth it...like it's OK to just relax and let myself feel good again.”

“Just be careful, OK?”

“I don't need to be. Merle would never hurt me.”

Merle tried to press himself to the wall in the hallway to disappear when she came bursting through the kitchen doors toward him but she was much too fast.

“Sorry,” he sputtered as he almost fell backward on his ass.

“Merle!” she exclaimed and grabbed him before he could lose his balance.

“Fuck, thanks!” he chuckled as he steadied himself.

“Were you right here on the other side of the door?” she asked.

He considered lying but maybe there was a chance to discuss what she said to Andrea.

“You defended me,” he said in quiet disbelief.

“I told you I would.”

“You did say that, but still...thank you.”

He felt overcome. She was the very air he breathed in that moment.

"Guess you really like me after all," he smiled.

"You know I do...I love you, Merle."

"I love you too."

“How's your shoulder today?”

“Good,” he answered, moving it around a little to prove it to her.

“Good enough to take me to bed?” she said in a sultry whisper.

He didn't need to hear anything else, he just took her by the hand and started walking.

Michonne was just who she said she was and all that he needed. He hadn't fully believed it back when she said she'd stand up for him, nobody except Daryl ever defended him. This was it, maybe there was a second chance for a man like him.


	13. Chapter 13

> **Chapter 13**

* * *

The long hallways were suddenly not so long and they were back in his cell, where a newly installed sheet was covering the bars, in a heartbeat.

“I need it now,” she said, pulling him close to kiss him deep. “I need you inside me.”

“Jesus,” he groaned as she started on the buttons of his shirt.

“Are you feeling up to it? Cause it's been a long time and I need it good.”

“I'm gonna leave you shakey in the legs like a baby deer if it kills me, honey.”

She took two small steps back till she was against the wall next to the bed and he pulled her leg up around his hip to tease her with some slow thrusting. He drifted his tongue from her neck up to her ear and he could hear that her breathing was now rapid and desperate.

He wasn't really sure that he wouldn't be in agony the next day but he couldn't care less. This was easily the best moment of his life and he'd give her everything he had no matter what.

Her hands were everywhere and they were both out of breath so fast. Michonne was always so composed; this was new. She held his face to her neck and kept whispering the most evil things he'd ever heard.

“I'm gonna ride that dick so good...you just wait.”

He had her topless in minutes with a little help from her and he claimed her breasts with his hand and mouth, coaxing sweet moans of unrest from deep within her. It was clear that they were in agreement that the laws of civility were being abandoned. This was going to be epic and there would be no apologies. What they had was so real and it belonged to them alone. He felt certain as he touched and tasted her skin that it didn't matter what anyone thought. All that mattered is that in her eyes, he was enough, he was who she wanted.

Merle's big hand squeezed her ass and pulled her pelvis up against his raging hard dick, almost bursting through his pants. She groaned and let her head fall back as her hand moved down to grope him desperately through the material.

“You hard for me?” she panted.

“I'm always hard for you...you wet for me?”

“Why don't you tell me?”

She unfastened her jeans and started squirming out of them leaving only her silky grey panties for his viewing pleasure.

He went back to kissing her lips and allowed his hand to slip under the elastic of her panties to see if she was indeed wet for him. Her warm, smooth, slippery lips greeted his rough touch allowing him easy access, almost inviting his thick fingers inside her. Merle teased her then, stroking the sweet spot inside her that made her knees buckle a little. He went right back to working slow circles around her clit then, never giving her too much of one sensation before moving onto something new. He wanted to keep her right on the edge for now.

She tore at his belt then and only a moment later they were both stripped and curled up in each other against the concrete wall of his cell, her hands on his ass pulling him in tight against her.

“Lay down,” she whined as she jerked him off within an inch of his sanity.

It still took him a little while to lay down carefully but as soon as she was, she climbed on top.

“I'm gonna fuck you so nice,” she purred. “Tell me you need it.”

She slid her perfect wet pussy back and forth over his cock then, cradling it between slippery folds.

“You know I need it, honey...I'm dying for it.”

She grinned then and moved down to kiss him as she lined herself up with his eager dick. Slowly he could feel himself sliding into her and he was sure he'd go blind from absolute pleasure. Michonne wasn't like any other woman, she was a sexual angel.

/

Her toes curled and her forehead dropped to his chest as she felt the sweet burn of a real man inside her.

“Jesus,” she groaned.

She'd never felt anything quite like it. He pulled her closer then to work on her breasts as his dick strained against her inner walls. They were physically so well-suited. She moved on him slowly at first, allowing her body to become accustomed to sex again before really letting it go.

The way he looked up at her ensured her that no man had ever loved her this way. Merle almost worshipped her and she was honored by it.

She rode him harder then, feeling the rising pressure of her womanhood being triggered by his dick and the motion of her hips. She was close but she wasn't quite ready to let herself cum yet.

/

Merle was wasted on her. He needed to make her cum and then cum himself before he blew it. It had been years since he'd gotten inside a woman and Michonne was not like any other woman he'd ever been with. She was much too perfect to contain his lust for very long.

“You gotta stop,” he breathed.

“You OK? Are you hurt?”

“Nope. I'm gonna blow my load if you don't stop workin' my dick so good,” he grinned. “I wanna eat that pussy but being on my elbows ain't good for my shoulder right now.”

“What do you propose?”

“Bring it down here,” he winked, indicating that she should bring her thighs down on either side of his face.

“You sure?”

“Get over here,” he insisted.

/

She had to lean over to even make it over his face in the bottom bunk but then she gripped the bars over Merle's head and felt his tongue move over her lips and then press against her entrance.

“Oh God,” she shuddered, knowing she was going to lose it very soon.

He held her thigh with his one good hand and began to suck her clit with the most gentle pressure, allowing her to ride his face to get more pressure as she needed it. He kept it light and then he used that deep scratchy voice to moan, sending sweet vibrations through her core and causing her whole body to curl almost completely fetal as she came out loud, grabbing the top of his head with both hands as she fucked his mouth slow and sensual.

She collapsed next to him, panting like she'd just run a marathon and he wiped her cum on his forearm with a huge grin on his face.

“I need to fuck you, right now,” he stated.

“Do your worst, baby.”

He rolled her onto her side then and she questioned it, but only for a moment. He urged her top leg out to the side and straddled the lower leg, moving in close enough to enter her nice and slow at first.

“Alright...this is different,” she moaned as he filled her from the sideways position she wasn't familiar with.

“It's a little easier with my shoulder like this,” he explained.

“No, it's good different. Trust me, I am not complaining.”

“Good. Now hang onto something,” he growled.

Merle fucked her hard then, much harder than she expected him to and it was absolutely incredible. She forgot where the hell she was as his dick laid claim to her pussy with no intention of asking please. Whines and cries filled the cell and likely the whole floor of the prison they were on but she wasn't even aware of anything but the way he felt inside her.

He lay his hand on her hip to keep himself steady and fucked her so hard she thought the bed was going to break. He kept it up for a few minutes and then he couldn't help it anymore, he had to cum and she whispered how much she wanted it.

“Cum for me, baby...let it go and cum all over me.”

He did just as she asked a half a second later and pulled out to cum all over her hip and ass, groaning like he'd been shot.

“Fuuuuuuckin' hell, woman!” he bellowed.

/

“That what you needed?” she smirked when he finally began to breathe normally again.

“I never had it that good in my whole damn life,” he muttered.

Merle was wrapped around her like a snake and she could sense that his shoulder was hurting but that he was also bordering on sleep.

“You're one of those men who conks out after sex, huh?”

“I'm sorry, honey...it was just so good and it's been so long,” he mumbled, with his face buried in her hair.

“It's OK. I'm tired too.”

“I love you so much,” he said.

“I love you too.”

“I know that if you hadn't stopped me in the beginning, I'd be dead right now. You saved my life,” he said softly. “I wanna spend every day I got left making you happy, honey...as long as you'll have me.”

“You belong to me, Merle, and I belong to you,” she explained. “We could just hold on forever and never let go.”

“You're my guardian angel, honey, right down here on Earth. I'm never letting you go for anything.”

“That's good, cause I'm not letting go either,” she answered, letting out a laborious yawn and pulling him in closer to her, “goodnight, Merle.”

“Goodnight, Michonne.”

**The End**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My apologies if the ending seems abrupt, but the story I wanted to tell is over. I just wanted to write a story of Merle and Michonne coming together as a couple and finding common ground as people. Sometimes my endings are a little quick and that's why. Once the main story is told, I am no longer motivated to continue.  
> If anyone has another Merle and Michonne prompt, I am open to it because I loved writing these two together:) Thanks for reading! xo


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